Espy
by Pixiebby
Summary: Something in not right in the land of Castanet.   Based on Harvest Moon: Animal Parade  Candace-Centric
1. Chapter 1

**(A/N):** I just wanted to try something... let me know what you think :)

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything...

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Candace shivered from the cold breeze. Standing outside the Celesta Church, her knuckles stiffened as her fingers tied the thin blue thread in a knot around the railing at the lookout point. She knew it was silly, but she couldn't help it.

She looked down at the pocket watch she had brought with her. It was exactly 11:52, eight minutes before midnight.

She held onto the end of the thread and closed her eyes, ignoring the cold the that pierced through her sweater's fabric. Her hair blew wildly in the wind.

It was a tradition, every year on this very night she came out to the lookout point and tied a knot around the rail. She would then close her eyes and focus all her energy on a single thought, a wish. Each year the wish was exactly the same. At midnight, she would yank on the thread she had tied around the rail. If it didn't break, her wish was suppose to come true.

Every year it broke.

She glanced down at her watch again, 12:00 exactly. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, pulling on the thread with all her might.

She could feel the threads letting go over each other as it snapped. The disappointment filled her heart as she opened her eyes, staring down at the blue thread in her palm. She glanced to where the knot stayed proudly on the rail, reveling in another victory.

She frowned as she broke the rest of the string off the rail, stuffing the old discarded thread into her pocket. She turned to leave when she dropped the spool of thread she had with her, and watched it roll ahead of her. Her steps quickened as she went after it, and soon found herself on her hands and knees trying to catch it. When she finally caught up to it, she noticed the spool of thread had been conveniently halted by someone's shoe.

She looked up to see a man she had never seen before.

His hair was the color of starlight.

A small gasp escaped her lips as she took in the sight of the young man standing over her. She was entranced as she stared up into his eyes, oblivious to the concern that filled them. He extended a hand toward her which she graciously took as he helped her rise to her feet.

He had markings under his right eye that she had never seen before. She thought she had known of everyone who lived on the island.

"You should go home..." He said suddenly, "quickly." She was at a loss of words at the sound of his voice, smooth and musical like the breeze that danced around them. She tried desperately to remember hearing about a new person moving into town. Her mind was blank."Now... is not the time... for introductions." It was as if his voice was a whisper that carried into her head.

She found herself nodding at his words when she felt him place her spool of thread into her cold hands. His warm touch a drastic contrast compared to the snow that started to fall around them.

"Will I see you again?" She said as she found her voice, stuttering in the cold. In any normal circumstance she wouldn't have kept her gaze on his for so long, but she couldn't find it in her to look away. He took a few steps closer, and for a moment she thought he would put his arm around her. She felt her heart in her throat as she felt him place a hand on the small of her back, he pushed her in the direction of the town.

"I would hope... that I don't feel the need to intervene again." She took a few steps forward from the quick push he gave her but turned back around before she got very far.

"Could I at least get your name? I'm Candace." She said urgently, suddenly feeling distressed at the thought of leaving him. There was a pull of energy that made her take another step closer to him, she was confused by her movements.

"Candace..." he said her name slowly, as the wind blew her name back into her face. "They say names are very powerful Candace, and that you should be careful as to who you give that power to." Her heart grew bigger every time she heard him say her name. "Be careful Candace... to who you let control you... I'm sorry that I must use your name against you... it unfortunately seems to be the only way tonight. " By this point she felt ecstatic, her insides acting as if they wanted to burst. She was oblivious to anything besides the fact that he had now said her name three times.

She felt an invisible bond forming as she took another step toward him, her thoughts were anything but normal as she acted completely out of character. She opened her arms in hopes to embrace him when something stopped her. Her eyes grew wide as she tried to move toward him desperately, it was as if a wall had surrounded him. She could still visibly see him clear as day but he stayed just out of reach.

His magical voice wrapped around her head in a language she was unfamiliar with. The only words she did recognize was the last three words he let utter from his lips. "... Happy Birthday Candace."

She felt a rush of heat as as her body twisted in ways she didn't know possible. Her vision went black as she felt a rapid wind spin around her. Her fear got the best of her and she let out a scream, but no one could hear her.

When her vision came back everything was still spinning. The ceiling above her bed came to view as the uneasy feeling in her stomach started to rise. She felt sick. She turned over on her side as the contents of her insides were released all over her bedroom floor.

Her thoughts went blank of anything as she felt a dream start to slip away from the backward corners of her mind. It was a dream, wasn't it? She felt a cold sweat start to break over her body as she pulled her sweater off, the blue spool of thread dropping out of her pocket and rolling across the floor.

Her body felt heavy as she fell backwards onto her pillow, eyes closed as she drifted into a dreamless sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**(A/N):** Thank you for reading! Also, thank you _kubathewolf123218 _ for being the first to review this story =)

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything...

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Candace opened her eyes to the sound of tapping. Stomach muscles she forgot she had constricted as she slowly rose up out of bed. She glanced to the window and gave a small, weak smile.

_Kasey..?_

He stood tall outside her window, a smile lifting his eyes as a boyish grin formed across his face. He waved a gloved hand toward her, causing her own arm to automatically lift and wave back.

Her eyes wondered over to where her younger sister, Luna continued to sleep.

She tip-toed out of bed, a little embarrassed and semi-glad she was still in her clothes from the night before. She might have died if Kasey saw her in her nightgown. A blush immediately formed on her cheeks as she suddenly looked back to the boy and signaled him to go around to the front of the shop with her hands, or at least she tried to. It took a few minutes but he eventually got the message and walked out of the window's sight.

An odor made look down to the floor by her bed, and she remembered waking up sick last night. She frowned at the mess but went and got a washcloth to clean it up quickly, hoping that her sister hadn't noticed what happened last night.

She changed her clothes quickly as the clock on her nightstand informed her it was only 6:32 in the morning. What could Kasey want with her so early in the morning? She bent to nudge her foot into her shoe before she crept out of the bedroom, slowly closing the door with hopes that it didn't creak on its old hinges.

When she finally found herself out of the front door, she found Kasey standing there with a that same smile on his face. "Happy Birthday!" He said as he took his rucksack off and started to look through it.

"Oh." She said as she shivered in the cold. "I almost forgot." She heard him laugh, pulling out a tiny white box with a big red ribbon tied around it.

"Sorry, I woke you up so early. I just couldn't wait to give this to you." She could feel her face heating up as she reached to take the box from his grasp, their fingers touched in the exchange.

"You really didn't have to..." Candace kept her gaze on the box that was now in her hands. Since Kasey had moved to the island in the early Spring of this year he had seemed so stubborn about getting to know her. She couldn't understand his interest in her to be perfectly honest, usually Luna would always get the attention from others.

The attention the aspiring farmer gave her though was slowly but surely becoming something she was growing accustomed to. It would now be a lie if she said she didn't enjoy the company of the new friend she had made.

"Girls always say that." Kasey said as he laughed again, "Just open it already."

Candace smiled down at the box as she neatly untied the ribbon and peered inside. "Oh my goddess..." She whispered to herself as she felt that blush starting to creep back up her neck. "I love it, thank you.."

Kasey smiled putting a hand to the back of his neck, "Yeah.. well I know you love those sakura seashells..." She stared down towards the necklace with a genuine smile on her face. "Do you need help putting it on?" Her nerves caught the words in her mouth as she gave him a slight nod.

She could feel his strong hands on her, even through the gloves as they clasped the necklace in place behind her. The breezed moved her hair into her eyes.

"Thank you Kasey..." She said again as she turned back around. They stood there for a moment in silence, and she couldn't decide if it was awkward or comfortable standing there with him. What was she suppose to do now?

"Well..." he said after the silence went a moment too long. "I gotta get back to the farm." She nodded at him. "Happy Birthday Candace."

The minute the words left his lips and blew over to her she felt her world was spinning. The image of the man from last night suddenly filled her vision as that queasy feeling in her stomach rose. She could feel a cold sweat forming on her neck as she held her weight against the wall.

She watched as Kasey continued his trek back to the farm, oblivious to her sudden feeling of unease. She slid down the side of the wall until she felt the snow crunch under her as she sat down. She needed to figure out what had happened last night.

That is when the paranoia started to settle in her mind. Candace glanced around the deserted street. It was silent as she watched the snow slowly float down around her. She sighed burying her hands in her face.

She sat there for a few minutes in the cold before she decided what she had to do. She knew her grandmother and sister would be waking up soon to start the day and open up the tailor shop, so she would have to be fast before they would start to wonder where she wondered off to.

She started down the street and took a left in the direction of the church. She shivered in the breeze and took a glance back over her shoulder. It felt eerie walking around this early in the morning, she was the only person walking around.

As she started up the hill to the church she paused, there was a building there that had never been there before. She looked at it and shook her head, it must have been there before. How else could it just appear over night? Is it possible that she just never noticed it? She knew she wasn't the most observant person.. but she had lived in Harmonica Town almost her whole life. The town was so small. How could she never notice this house?

Something about the place made her uneasy, despite the fact that she wanted to take a closer look. Something compelled her to it and pushed her away from it at the same time.

A wind roughly blew cold air in her face snapping her out of her stupor. She had to check out the church.

Her feet pressed down into the snow underneath her as she made her way back to the lookout point. Her memory was a little blurry about the night before, and she wasn't sure what she was suppose to find there but she was determined to take a look.

She was surprised to see Chase standing there, his back to her as he stared up at the sky over the lookout point. She didn't know the cook very well, but she had tried one or two of his dishes. He was good at his work.

His head snapped around when he heard her footsteps approaching. "Oh? Candace?" She ignored the weird sensation that pulsed through her head at the sound of her name and gave him a weak smile, unsure if she should walk further towards him or not. "What are you doing here?" His words sounded sharp as a knife that sliced through the air, she took a step back.

"Sorry." She said to the ground, her arms immediately hugging herself.

"No.. that didn't come out right. Sorry, I'm just... not in the best of moods." He ran a hand through his hair.

Candace nodded as she continued to stare at the ground. This was a stupid idea anyway, what did she expect to find here? "I guess I'll just go then." She was about to turn around and leave when she suddenly heard him let out a disgusted cry. Her eyes grew wide as he stared down over the railing of the lookout point.

"What is it?" She asked quickly as she was about to look for herself.

"No!" He yelled as he took a step back and held out his arm to hold her back. He shook his head, half tripping on the ice beneath the snow. He looked at her with wide eyes, and she noticed an emotion that made her insides twinge.

_Fear._

She pushed passed him and stood on tip-toes as she looked over the edge. Blood etched the white snow on the ground causing the hair on the back of her neck to stand on end.

That's when the Church doors burst open with a powerful bang.

Perry, the priest-in-training came running out of the doors as he screamed. He ran straight past them without even taking notice of their presence.

Chase and Candace found each others eyes.

He grabbed her by the arm and started running in the direction that Perry had went, "We have to go to the Mayor!" He said quickly as she tripped over her feet to keep up with him.

All Candace could think of was all the blood she had saw down there. She felt a queasy feeling rising up into her throat.

What had happened?


	3. Chapter 3

**(A/N):** Thank you so much for reading! I really appreciate the reviews all of you have left me, they made my day =)

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything...

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Laughter echoed against the acoustic atmosphere of the Town Hall as Chase and Candace entered. His grip was still tight on her as he pulled her after him.

Candace felt disconnected to everything happening around her. The only thing that felt real was the pain from Chase's fingers tightly wound around her arm. His grip dug into her and it was all she could focus on. Everything else seemed to be a hazy dream in her mind that she couldn't emotionally connect with.

"Perry, how many times do I have to tell you?" Mayor Hamilton shook his head, a grin plastered on his face. "Celesta Church is not haunted." He continued to laugh and Candace shook her head at how strained the laugh sounded in her mind.

"Mayor." Chase's voice brought the eyes of Mayor Hamilton and Perry to focus on them as they got closer. She could feel Chase tense. "Something bad has happened at the Church grounds." The mayor's eyes grew wide.

"What is it? Are you two alright?" Candace closed her eyes as Chase told them what they saw just minutes before. The scene etched into her mind, even though she wasn't even sure what it was she saw.

"Blood?" They Mayor yelled, "Did you see what was down there?" Chase shook his head. The silence rang in her ears.

"Dad, get Doctor Jin and meet us back at the Church grounds. We'll get to the bottom of this." Candace opened her eyes to see Gill standing there as he started taking charge of the situation. She hadn't even realized he was in the room with them. "Let's get going. You're going to show me where exactly you saw what you think you did."

"Do you not believe me?" Chase bit back angrily.

Gill's eyes narrowed. "We'll see." The tension stuck to the air surrounding them.

Chase yanked on Candace's arm as they exited the Town Hall, he took a right as they began their trek back to the church.

She had no desire to go back to the church. She didn't know what to do, before Chase's grip was helping her but now all Candace wanted to do was get away. She stopped walking which caused Chase to turn and look back at her.

"Oh!" He let go of her arm and took a step back. "I'm so sorry, was I hurting you? I didn't even realize."

"N-Noo." She grabbed her arm and felt the now tender skin through the fabric. "I just don't feel well."

"Go with my Dad to the Clinic then. Irene will take care of you until Doctor Jin gets back." Gill said stiffly, "Come on Chase."

"We can't just leave her here." Chase said as his head turned back towards Gill.

The wind blew through her sweater as she watched the two argue for a moment before Chase grabbed her hand. "Come on." He said gently. "We'll take you to the Clinic as soon as we figure out what happened at the Church." He tugged on her and her feet automatically started to follow.

She hated herself for being so shy. Why couldn't she speak up for herself?

Her gut was definitely telling her going back was not a good idea. Yet she couldn't find it in her to say no. Her insides constricted as they began the trek up the hill towards the church.

Snow crunched under them as they jogged up the hill.

The Church loomed over the grounds, the dark winter clouds giving her an uneasy feeling.

Chase let go of her hand as he and Gill ran over to the lookout point and stared over the railing. She heard Gill gasp which meant that it was still real. The blood was still painted all over the white snow.

"Where did it come from?" Gill said as his voice pitched. "Lets take the stairs." The two boys ran to the left as they darted down the stairwell that led to the cemetery below.

Candace didn't move. She didn't want to know the source of the blood.

Mayor Hamilton, Perry, and Doctor Jin were suddenly behind her. "Where did they go?" The Mayor said frantically to her. She lifted a hand and pointed to the stairs as she watched the Mayor and the Doctor run down the stairs after them.

"Do you think the cries and screams I heard was actually someone getting hurt?" Perry said from behind her.

"I hope not.." She said quietly into the air.

It didn't take long before Chase ran back up the stairs. "We can't find anything." He said as he panted, resting his hands on his knees. "The blood... the trail just disappears about three feet before it reaches the mine cart."

"How can that be?" Perry said in disbelief, "There's no animal or... person... or... anything?"

Chase shook his head. "One of the headstones in the cemetery is cracked... and there's a lot of blood around it. Jin says it looks like if there was injury, it happened when the headstone split."

Perry buried his face in his hands, "I must go pray to the Goddess."

"I have to go." Candace said suddenly causing both of them to look at her. "I need to get home."

"Let me walk you." Chase said but Candace shook her head and took a step back.

"N-no... I'll be okay." She hugged her arms in the cold.

"Candace..." Her name danced around her head as she continued to shake her head.

"Really, don't worry. I'll be fine." She turned and ran in the direction of the town. She could hear Chase and Perry calling after her but she didn't want to look back. She couldn't.

She felt like her name kept being whispered into her mind as she ran in the snow.

She got to the house she had noticed earlier that day and began knocking frantically on the door. She didn't know what was driving her but she felt pain burn up through her spine, and her eyes began to water as she knocked harder on the door.

She tried the doorknob and almost fell through the door when it slammed open. Closing the door behind her she glanced over her surroundings, and found herself gazing into a crystal ball. It lured her closer but she blinked and turned her head away from it.

Books were scattered everywhere, an unkempt bed stood in the corner and there was a stairway that led to the second level of the house.

Her eyes focused on the blood that etched the wall by the stairs. She moved closer, and the stairs creaked underneath her weight.

She felt like she had no control, her mind was screaming at her to turn around and go home. To go enjoy her birthday with her family.

Something pushed her up those stairs.

"...Candace?" Her eyes locked onto the man. "...You couldn't resist... could you?"


	4. Chapter 4

**(A/N):** I hope everyone had a great St. Patrick's day! Thank you for reading, and thank you for the reviews! Both are very much appreciated! :D

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything...

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Candace's eyes grew wide as she took in the sight before her; her body tensed, refusing to let her move. The man she had met the night before stood across the room with an unreadable expression on his face. There was a bloodstained shirt on the floor by his feet.

"You... shouldn't be here..." He said with a breath of air as he looked back at her over his shoulder. Her eyes darted back and forth between his face and his exposed back which had a nasty scrape and some cuts adorning it. The skin around his eye was discolored. "Candace..."

Her eyes instantly snapped up to meet his gaze. She wanted to run but couldn't, she wanted to cry but something made her resist the urge. She couldn't understand the desire she felt for this man. Her body wanted to run toward him, her mind wanted to run away.

Why had she come here? She couldn't understand her thoughts.

"I see.." He spoke softly. "I forgot how easily influenced humans can be..." He turned away from her then, causing her eyes to wonder back toward his back. She wanted to reach out to him, take care of him. "Wait downstairs for me...I'll only be a minute."

She didn't say anything as she felt her body comply to his request. The floor boards creaked under her as she made her way down the stairs.

She soon found herself sitting at the table that had the crystal ball sitting on top of it. Her eyes immediately bore into it.

There was a dark, misty substance swirling around in it. It was an erratic dance of movement that jerked towards her as her own finger reached out to it. She was hesitant, her hand trembling as she stared into the beautiful crystal in front of her.

Her concentration broke when a cloth was suddenly thrown over it. She looked up at the man who shook his head at her before turning back around toward the little kitchen. "Would you like... some coffee?" She didn't answer as she watched him spill some coffee beans into a pot on the stove. He was fully dressed now, and her eyes couldn't help but to stare into his back and imagine the damage to his skin underneathe the coat. She frowned.

"Here you go.." She watched him turn around and hold out a cup to her. The scent of coffee muddled the air and her senses as she took the cup from him, the warmth of it feeling good against her cold hands. She looked down at it frowning. She had never liked coffee, but for some reason she almost couldn't resist the desire she had to take a sip. She breathed in the warm scent of the drink in her hands. "I promise you'll feel... better."

Candace nodded, lifting the drink to her lips. She trusted him.

The warm liquid swirled down her throat.

It was then that she suddenly realized where she was.

As if she had woken up from a bad dream she dropped the cup, letting the rest of the contents spill to the floor. She backed up out of the chair and walked into the wall. She felt angry and confused as he watched her fear finally take over her actions. She wanted out of here, now. Her eyes traveled to the door.

"You're free to leave..." He said as he watched her gaze dart from the door and back to him. "I won't stop you." She took a couple steps toward the door not breaking eye contact with him. She felt her eyes start to strain as she felt the emotions of the morning and last night start to surface. She had never felt more confused and frustrated. "I have some answers to your questions..."

"Who are you?" She said instantly.

His silver hair fell over his eyes as he dropped his head a little. "I can't answer that particular one."

"You don't have a name?" She said as she brought up a sleeve of her sweater to her watering eyes.

"...You can call me Wizard, if you wish." He looked away from her. "I'm sorry about last night.. you were in the way..."

"In the way?" She dropped her face into her hands, her body beginning to shiver under the emotions that ran through her. "None of this makes any sense."

"There is... corruption... around us..." He talked slowly, as if trying to choose his words. "I didn't mean for my actions to affect you like that..." He looked up at her. "You're back to your old self now..."

She stared at the floor through her fingers. A million questions running through her brain, "Corruption?" she hadn't even realized she had said it out loud.

"I have probably already said too much.." He shook his head, fingers pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Please, I need to know more than this. Tell me what's going on." She had lifted her eyes from her hands to watch him shake his head again.

"Your friend is about to walk by outside, he'll make sure you get home safe." Her eyes grew wide as she took a step forward.

"I'm not leaving until I get some more answers." He shook his head again.

"Don't get involved, just be careful..." She was about to say something back to him when she watched him flick his wrist. A gust of wind instantly blew her back towards the front door. She heard the latch click as the door creaked open before her body got to it and then instantly felt herself fall backwards into the snow outside. The door slammed shut in front of her.

She immediately sprung up and ran back towards it, the door was locked.

"Candace?" She turned around to see Kasey half-jogging over to her. "We've been looking for you everywhere. What are you doing?" She looked up at him and glanced back towards the door. She couldn't take it anymore, she felt the tears she had been trying hold in before spill out and instantly felt Kasey's arms wrap around her. "Hey, hey.." His breath was warm by her ear.

"I-I..." She shook her head as she tried to form words.

"Shh... I know. The whole town knows. I'm sorry you had to witness that..." She then remembered the scene she had discovered with Chase that morning. She cried.

"What's going on Kasey? I'm so confused..." She buried her face in his warm jacket. "Things like that never happen here.." She could feel his body tense.

"I'm not sure..." He said quietly. "It was probably just some fight between some wild animals. Nothing to worry about." She frowned at his words but her mind desperately wanted to believe the answer was something as simple as that. "

Hey, I better get you home. You're grandma is really worried." Kasey stepped back and looked at her while his hands rested on her shoulders. "Plus, you're sister is going to kill me if she finds out I didn't bring you straight home once I found you."

Candace felt a small giggle leave her lips as she dried her eyes on her sleeve. The awareness of their close proximity suddenly became apparent to her and she took a step back out of his reach. A half of a smile quickly lifted and fell on his face.

"Let's go. It's still you're birthday, you know. Luna and Julius have something planned for you." He winked. "I didn't say anything though."

Her birthday? Was she just suppose to forget these strange events? How could anyone be thinking of her birthday after what had happened this morning?

Was her imagination making it seem like it was something bigger than it really was?

The two were silent as Candace walked instep beside him towards the tailor shop. She was lost in her thoughts, and felt numb to the type of emotion she should be feeling right now. She was exhausted.

Candace glanced down noticing how close their hands were as they walked together through the snow.

If only life could stay as simple as this small moment.


	5. Chapter 5

**(A/N):** All of the reviewers and readers of this story are_ awesome_, and I love you all! I hope everyone has a great April Fool's day tomorrow, go play some great pranks! :D

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything...

**EDIT (April 1st 2011) -** just fixed a few grammatical errors, and thank you_ lollipopdiego _for pointing a couple of them out for me! :)

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Candace let out a gasp of air as her sister launched at her; crushing her into a death grip of a hug.

"Uh, Luna.. she can't breath." Kasey said as he tried to maneuver Candace out of her sister's grasp.

"Shut up Kasey, this is all your fault anyway."

"What!" He let go of Candace as he watched Luna pull her back towards her.

"She should have been here hours ago! Don't think I don't know you came by here early this morning, you're the reason she had to see that big horrible th-th-_thing_ in the first place." She crossed her arms as she narrowed her eyes.

"I didn't take her to the-"

"If you didn't wake her up, she wouldn't have gone there." She turned her head away from him, "I honestly don't see what you see in this farmer Candace. He's nothing but trouble."

"Luna... this isn't his fault." Candace said as she tried to defend him.

"See? Even Candace says that-"

"He's got you all confused Candace." She looked back over to him, "Why are you even still here? I didn't invite you Kasey." Luna stared Kasey down as he put a hand through his hair and shook his head.

This is when Julius spoke up, and decided to put in his two cents,"I'm going to have to agree with Luna on this one, if you didn't wake her up. She wouldn't have been at the church in the first place." He walked over to them, eyes glancing over Candace as he laid a hand on her shoulder. "How are you dear?" He looked down to the necklace resting around her neck, "I see Kasey already gave you his gift."

Candace felt exhausted. After all the events that had happened, she couldn't handle all the arguing the three of them always did. She just wanted to go to bed, she didn't even respond to what Julius had said as he continued to stare at her; his hand gently squeezing her shoulder as he did so. The touch was familiar.

"I helped make that necklace you know." As the words left his mouth, you could immediately hear Kasey let out an exasperated sigh.

"Of course she knows you helped, you work at the accessory store." He crossed his arms, "That doesn't mean it makes my gift any less special."

"Oh really, well did you help make it at all? I'm pretty sure you only handed money over for it." Candace frowned as she tried to take a step away from them.

"I had to find the shells in the first place." Kasey let a curse escape under his breath, "I'm getting out of here."

"Good!" Luna said as she nodded. "Candace, I made you the cutest cake ever."

"It's my birthday, right?" The three of them looked towards her as she finally started to speak, "Well... I want Kasey here." Luna and Julius glared, and even Kasey looked annoyed; but Candace knew she didn't imagine it when she saw a slight smile tug at the corner of his lips. He looked smug.

Luna rolled her eyes before she turned around and stomped off into the back of the shop where their house was.

"If that's what you want... come on, I have your present in the kitchen." Julius nodded in the direction that Luna went, and Candace felt her feet start to respond as she watched him turn away.

That's when she felt a tug and turned around to see Kasey's hand wrapped gently around her wrist, "You really want me to stay?"

She felt a smile form on her face, "Yes... I do.." He stared at her in a way that made her stomach do a flip. "..and I love your present, don't worry." He smiled as his hand fell away from her.

"All right then." She turned around and walked ahead of him into kitchen. She felt her insecurity rise as she realized he would be staring at the back of her head as she walked ahead of him like this. She felt silly hoping her hair looked alright.

"Happy Birthday, Candace." Her grandmother smiled as she walked over to give her a hug. "I'm so sorry about this morning dear, are you sure you're up to this right now?" She gave her granddaughter a once over, "Do you want to go lay down?"

Finally, someone who understood there were more important things going on than her birthday. She wanted to say 'yes, I really do want to go lay down.' but as she glanced around the room to see everyone who came for her special day; she could only feel herself say, "No, I'm alright... Thanks for coming everyone." Sleep would have to wait for later.

"Open your gift Candace." Julius said as he walked back over to her, package in hand.

"Shouldn't she blow out her candles first?" Gill was the one who spoke, and she was both surprised and unsurprised to see him there. She knew the man had a sort of thing going on with her little sister, but after the events of this morning... shouldn't he be working?

It always seemed like he did more work then his father, who was the _actual _mayor. "Luna wouldn't let me miss your birthday." He said in a deadpan voice as if reading Candace's thoughts. "I'm leaving as soon as you blow out your candles."

Luna swatted him on the arm, "No you aren't. You have to wait until she opens all of her gifts too." Gill put a hand to his head.

"I'll stay for an hour, then I'm leaving." The two began to bicker as Julius pushed the package into her hands.

"Open it dear." She looked up at him and smiled back at the grin he had on his face, "I know you're going to love it."

The package was similar to the box Kasey had given her that morning, with the same pretty ribbon tied around it. She untied it and peered inside the box, her eyes grew wide at the contents.

Inside were sakura seashell earrings with a matching bracelet, there was also an amethyst ring. "Now you have the whole set." He said, "also, I made you that fabulous ring. Don't you love it?"

Candace felt taken aback by everything inside the box, she couldn't believe he went through so much trouble. "Th-thank you..." She felt heat rise up her neck as she could feel everyone staring at her. She felt like it was all just too much for her, she really wasn't anyone special.

Julius hugged her, "I knew you would just love it." She heard Kasey say something that made Julius say something back to him, but all the words seemed to mix together somehow. The arguing between them seemed to sound like background noise.

The rest of the 'party' came and went until it was time for her to blow out her candles and make a wish. True to her word, Luna had made a cake that looked like she had spent hours working on. It was even decorated with a blue mist flower.

As Luna and Julius were trying to find the misplaced candles for the cake, Kasey came up from behind her, "You look tired." He said close to her ear, her face heating up from the contact.

She turned around to look at him when a sudden question started to form in her head, "Is it okay if I ask you something?"

He nodded, "Of course." he said with a smile.

"That house you found me at... do you know the person that lives there?" His smile faltered.

"Isn't it abandoned?"

"I don't think so..." She glanced up at him but he seemed to be looking at something over her shoulder. "Do you think magic is real?" her voice was hushed as she spoke, but she knew he heard her just the same.

He didn't look at her, "You mean like Harry Potter status?" He gave her a small smile but she didn't return it. "I don't think I do..." He looked away, and something made her feel like he was keeping something from her; she just couldn't understand why he would.

Was there a reason no one seemed to know about the man in the house that was supposedly abandoned?

"If I did though... I don't think I would mess around with it." It sounded more like a warning than anything.

"What do you mean?" She never got her answer though, Julius took that moment to take her away from their conversation. He slung an arm around her as he brought her over to the cake.

The candles were lit, "Everyone, on the count of three." There was a murmur of voices singing along happy birthday as she heard Julius whisper in her ear, "Don't forget to make a wish.."

She noticed Kasey leaving out the back door before she closed her eyes.

She took a deep breath, but she forgot to wish when the air from her lungs blew out all the candles. All she could think about was a man with the hair of starlight.

There was no way she could just leave everything that happened behind her, and she had a feeling that Kasey knew more than he said he did.


End file.
